[Community-Discuss] ICT Authority of Mauritius requests public comments on proposal to regulate Social Media

[Ish Sookun]

Hi Arthur,

Thank you for the answer. I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

On 22/04/2021 12:47, Arthur Carindal wrote:

> By reading it, should I understand that you would like to know whether

> AFRINIC's meeting with the ICTA would have contributed to the adoption

> of this ICTA’s Consultation Paper on proposed amendments to the ICT Act

> for regulating the use and addressing the abuse and misuse of Social

> Media in Mauritius

> <https://www.icta.mu/docs/2021/Social_Media_Public_Consultation.pdf>?

> 


I wanted to know whether the regulation of Social Media content by the
ICT Authority without the intervention of the Social Media companies was
part of the initiatives discussed.


>  

> 

> For your information, please note that on 22 February 2021, AFRINIC

> met ICTA in line with the framework of  AFRINIC’s engagement with

> Internet ecosystem stakeholders, which include public organisations,

> civil society groups and private sectors. The said meeting was about the

> review of the adoption and deployment of IPv6 in Mauritius. Both parties

> seized this opportunity to foster initiatives to accelerate the

> effective deployment of this protocol on the government and operators

> networks to allow Internet users in Mauritius to take full advantage of

> the IPv6.

> 


Thank you for providing this information.


> 

> In the light of the above, AFRINIC has neither been consulted for nor

> participated in the elaboration of this consultation paper. 


Once again, thank you for this information as well.


> Furthermore, please note that as the African Internet Registry, AFRINIC

> values ​​its neutrality by refraining itself to interfere in the

> formulation of any national policies to be adopted by a government or an

> ICT regulator, which may be out of the scope of its mission.


I recall this having been debated lengthily when the Anti-Shutdown
(AFPUB-2017-GEN-001-DRAFT-01) proposal [1] was published.


>  

> However, AFRINIC strives to advocate for a secure and open Internet 

> (ref :https://afrinic.net/2017-04-05-keep-the-internet-open-to-all)

> 


Would AFRINIC envisage to reiterate the above in a public statement?

To be more precise, I am asking whether AFRINIC would consider
publishing a public statement that AFRINIC advocates for a secure and
open Internet for all?

Regards,

Ish Sookun

[1] https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/rpd/2017/006503.html